BREAKING: CSPL delegation will enter Broadview ICE facility to offer Ash Wednesday sacraments to detainees before Mass
BREAKING: CSPL delegation will enter Broadview ICE facility to offer Ash Wednesday sacraments to detainees before Mass
Cardinal Cupich, relatives of people deported and detained will lift up immigrants’ resilience at Ash Wednesday Mass at 6 p.m.
Faith leaders have received permission to enter the Broadview ICE facility, access granted from the Department of Homeland Security to honor Judge Gettleman’s order
WHAT:
Late morning today, the Department of Homeland Security informed CSPL they would honor Judge Gettleman’s judicial injunction Thursday, February 12, 2026, requiring the Department of Homeland Security to permit a small delegation of clergy and women religious access to the Broadview ICE facility on Ash Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security has shared that the delegation can enter today at 3PM.
We are grateful the Department of Homeland Security has allowed the CSPL delegation inside the Broadview ICE Facility. More information will be shared this evening at CSPL’s Ash Wednesday Mass and Procession at 6 p.m. at Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Melrose Park.
The Scalabrinian Missionaries and the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL) will hold a large outdoor Ash Wednesday Mass and peaceful procession in Melrose Park to begin the season of Lent. This will not be a procession to Broadview.
WHO:
Delegation to Broadview at 3 p.m. today will be led by: Fr. Leandro Fossá, CS, Sr. Alicia Gutierrez, SH, Fr. Paul Keller, CMF.
At the Ash Wednesday Mass and Procession:
Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago; Families of people whose loved ones have been detained or deported, who will join the procession with the Cardinal and be among the first to receive ashes during Mass; Catholic and Christian faith leaders, and more than 3,000 members and supporters of Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership.
WHERE/WHEN:
Wednesday, February 18:
3 p.m. ICE detention center, Broadview, 1930 Beach St, Broadview, IL 60155
A small delegation will arrive to provide Ash Wednesday sacrament to people detained at Broadview.
6-8 p.m. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church of Melrose Park - 1101 N 23rd Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60160
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich will officiate at an outdoor Ash Wednesday Mass, followed by a Community Procession through Melrose Park (East along Augusta Street to 22nd Avenue, north to Thomas Street, then west to 23rd Avenue and back to the church.
Parking is available in 3 lots accessible from 23rd Ave, and a larger lot at the corner of 25th Ave and Augusta St. The Mass will take place outside the Church, at the corner of 23rd Ave and Cortez St. Mass will be moved indoors if needed due to weather.
WHY:
Lent is a time of conversion and moral clarity. As the Church begins this season, Ash Wednesday’s Mass builds on a sustained series of peaceful public witness events organized by CSPL that have mobilized more than 5,000 people of faith and community members over the past year.
“This is an important first step. We look forward to continuing on the path that Judge Gettleman’s ruling laid out: ongoing access to the detention center at Broadview to provide pastoral care and Communion,” says Sr. Jeremy Midura, CSSF, Felician Sister, Board member of CSPL and plaintiff.
These have included a People’s Mass outside of the Great Lakes Naval Station, a Mass and Eucharistic procession at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish to grieve and honor Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, and an October 11 Eucharistic Procession and November 1st People’s Mass outside of the Broadview ICE Facility calling for pastoral care and Communion to be offered inside the facility. (Full timeline here; News releases, coverage and photo/video content here).
As the lawsuit that CSPL filed November 19, 2025, details, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has denied entry to elected officials, attorneys, advocacy organizations, and clergy seeking access to the Broadview detention facility since at least June 18, counter to practices dating back more than a decade. During this same period, reports of deteriorating and inhumane conditions increased.
The Ash Wednesday Mass and procession calls attention to the moral crisis unfolding inside detention centers, ICE facilities, and in cities across our country. It names the dehumanization of those detained and the broader harm inflicted on immigrant communities. Faith leaders are requesting accountability and the restoration of religious access, grounded in the Church’s teaching on human dignity and the fundamental right to religious freedom.
About the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership: CSPL is a Catholic and Christian rooted community organizing coalition of over 55 parishes, universities and community organizations that labors to transform racial, economic, social and environmental systemic structures through grassroots coalition building, community organizing, and liberative formation. More at csplaction.org.
Spokespeople available for interviews:
Fr. Leandro Fossá, CS, Scalabrinian pastor for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Melrose Park, CSPL Clergy Council
Sr. Alicia Gutierrez, SH, Society of Helpers, CSPL Women’s Religious Council
Fr David Inczauskis, SJ, Jesuit priest, CSPL Clergy Council
Fr. Dan Hartnett, SJ, Jesuit retired pastor and plaintiff, CSPL Clergy Council
Fr. Paul Keller, CMF, Provincial for the Claretian Missionaries, CSPL Clergy Council
Sr. Jeremy Midura, CSSF, Felician Sister, Board member of CSPL and plaintiff
Anthony Williams, CSPL Board President
Fr. Dennis Berry, ST, retired pastor at St. James Catholic Church on Wabash and plaintiff, CSPL Clergy Council
Sr. Mary McDonough, RSM, Mercy Sister , CSPL Women’s Religious Council
Michael N. Okińczyc-Cruz, Executive Director of Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership
Media Contacts:
Yesenia Rivera, yeseniamrivera24@gmail.com, 773-934-7042
Sarah Rand, sarah@rand-strategies.com, 312-513-1035
Gordon Mayer, gordon@gordonmayercommunications.com, 312-307-0133
Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez, joanna@csplaction.org, 331-343-7301
